(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device and a panel therefor.
(b) Description of Related Art
A flat panel display such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and an organic light emitting display (OLED) includes a display panel, a plurality of drivers for driving the display panel, and a controller for controlling the drivers.
The drivers usually include a plurality of integrated circuit (IC) chips that are mounted on flexible printed circuit (FPC) films attached to the display panel or mounted directly on the display panel. The driver chips are supplied with control signals and driving voltages from a printed circuit board (PCB) that mount a plurality of circuit elements including the controller and a voltage generator.
When the driving chips are mounted directly on the display panel, a FPC film including a plurality of conductive lines is provided between the display panel and the PCB for transmitting control signals, driving voltages, and image data. The FPC film is attached to the display panel and the electrical connection between the FPC film and the driving chips is implemented by a plurality of lead lines formed on the display panel.
A conventional manufacturing method of the display device combines the PCB with the FPC film after attaching the FPC film on the display panel. In order to combine the PCB and the FPC film, portions of the conductive lines on the FPC film are exposed and at this time, static electricity may be introduced into the display panel through the exposed portions of the conductive lines to cause defects such as the disconnection of lead lines on the display panel.
In the meantime, the lead lines often include a lower Cr film and an upper Al film and they are covered with an insulating layer. In order to contact with the driving ICs, contact holes exposing portions of the lead lines are provided at the insulating layer and the exposed portions of the lead lines are covered with contact assistants for enhancing the contact with the other devices including the driving ICs and the FPC film.
At this time, the exposed portions of the upper Al film through the contact holes are removed by wet etch since Al exhibits relatively poor contact with other materials. The wet etch may form undercut that may cause the disconnection of the contact assistants at least in part and the partial disconnection may cause permanent disconnection of the lead lines under an electrostatic discharge.
In detail, when static electricity is induced from an external device into the lead lines, it is preferable that the static electricity is transferred to other devices through the contact assistants. However, the partial disconnection of the contact assistants may obstruct the rapid discharge of the static electricity to another device via the contact assistants and it gathers the electrostatic charges near the exposed portions of the lead lines. The gathered electrostatic charges may disconnect the lead lines near the exposed portions, when, in particular, the lead lines have small width.